US3533201A - Fascia and flashing construction - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 13, 1970 w. R. TYLER FASCIA AND FLASHING CONSTRUCTION Filed April 4, 1968 INVENTOR. WILLIAM R. TYLER A r rarney United States Patent O 3,533,201 FASCIA AND FLASHING CONSTRUCTION William R. Tyler, Lower Burrell, Pa., assignor to Aluminum Company of America, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Apr. 4, 1968, Ser. No. 718,741 Int. Cl. E04d 13/15 U.S. Cl. 52-60 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A fascia and flashing construction for installation adjacent normally exposed terminal defining surfaces, such as outwardly facing marginal edges of substantially flat roof, projecting balcony, marquee, terrace, and similar deck structures, in which the fascia element is erected in substantially upright overlying protective and/or decorative relationship to an outwardly facing marginal edge surface of the deck structure and is restrained in compressively stressed condition by an associated flashing element in engagement with the upper edge of the fascia member under a generally downwardly tension-exerting force developed by securement of the flashing element to the deck structure rearwardly of and below the upper engaged edge of the fascia member.

BACKGROUND PRIOR ART It is known to provide fascia and flashing installations in exposed overlying assembled relationship to the terminal marginal edge surfaces of substantially flat roof structures, in which a cant strip is usually employed in firm securement along and above the outwardly facing marginal edge surfaces defining the roof structure to provide a rearwardly and downwardly inclined surface terminating in the plane of the substantially flat roof surface. United States Letters Patent 3,100,951, dated Aug. 20, 1963, and its Re. 26,056, dated July 5, 1966, in the name of William P. Hickman, are typical and representative disclosures of the state of the prior art in the general field to which the present invention is addressed.

Analysis of the aforesaid published prior art practice reveals a fascia-flashing structure, and an installation in corporating the same, in which engagement between upper marginal configurated edges of the fascia and flashing elements thereof react to develop an upwardly directed pressure or separating force along the upper marginal edge of the fascia strip or element.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Structurally distinguishing the present invention from the hereinabove acknowledged prior art, a fascia-flashing construction is hereinafter described in which interengaging adjacent and/ or proximate upper marginal edges of a generally upright protective and/or decorative fascia member and a generally downwardly and rearwardly extending flashing element, on securement of the latter element intermediate its upper and lower marginal edges to an underlying static surface disposed below and rearwardly in respect to said interengaged portions thereof, react to develop a downwardly directed force within the fascia member against resisting support of the latter below its upper marginal edge to thereby place the upright fascia member, in its installed or erected condition, under positive compressively strained condition maintained by a generally downwardly exerted tensile or pulling force developed at the interengaging upper marginally configurated portions of the fascia and flashing elements to provide a substantially tight and rattle-free fascia-flashing installation.

The invention is addressed in general to fascia-flashing "ice construction, assemblies and installations thereof, for erection in overlying protective and/or decorative relationship in respect to marginal normally exposed surface areas definable by intersecting planes, one of which is normally substantially coplanar with the outwardly facing substantially upright terminating marginal surface area of the edge of a substantially flat roof, or similar deck structure, and the other of which is coplanar with a substantially flat roof or equivalent deck structure.

More specifically, fascia-flashing constructions and assemblies of the invention provide for structural stressproducing interengagement between an upper configurated marginal edge of a general upright fascia member and an upper configurated marginal edge of a flashing element, at a location above the plane of a substantially flat roof or equivalent deck structure, wherein the flashing element is adapted to be restrainedly secured below and rearwardly of the aforesaid upper marginal edge interengagement to a relatively stationary structure, such as the rearwardly and downwardly inclined surface of a cant strip supported adjacent the outer marginal edge of the roof, or similar deck structure, in. underlying relationship to the flashing element.

It is therefore a primary object of the invention to provide economically prefabricated fascia and flashing members or elements incorporating upper edge configurations, which on interengagement thereof, are productive of developing a generally downwardly directed force against the upper edge of the fascia member against resisting support of the same below its upper marginal edge of an installation of a so interengaged assembly of the fascia and flashing elements.

Another object of the invention is to provide fascia and flashing elements which, on interengaging upper marginal edge assembly and installation thereof, provide a compressively stressed, rattle-free fascia member.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art, to which the invention appertains, on consideration of the following description and illustrations.

The appended drawing includes selected views in illustration, and not limitation, of preferred embodiments of the invention, in which:

FIG. 1 represents a fragmentary partial cross-sectional elevational view of a fascia-flashing installation of the invention;

FIG. 2 represents a fragmentary partial cross-sectional elevational view of a modified fascia-flashing installation substitutable for the upper edge construction illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 represents a fragmentary partial cross-sectional elevational view of a further modified fascia-flashing installation substitutable for either of the installations of FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIG. 4 represents a fragmentary cross-sectional elevational view of a further modification of fascia-flashing installation of the invention.

In reference to the aforesaid views, only such essential structure has been illustrated for a complete understanding of the following description.

In FIG. 1, a roof or similar substantially flat deck structure 10 is supportedly secured and erected above an enclosing wall or abutment 12 and provides a normally outwardly facing terminal or marginal edge surface 14 in substantially coplanar relationship to an outwardly facing surface 16 of the enclosing wall or abutment 12. The surface 14, in conventional substantially flat roof or similar deck construction, can be the upright outer edge of a wood nailer plate 18, although other conventional construction materials could be employed in this area of a roof or similar deck structure, such as masonry, concrete, and the like.

A generally triangular shaped cant element or strip 20 is illustrated in FIG. 1 as formed from sheet metal, preferably a metal of relatively high corrosion resistance, such as aluminum and alloys thereof. The cant strip 20 has a substantially vertical or upright front depending leg 22 and a downwardly inclined rearwardly extending leg 24 terminating in a securing flange 26 in supportable contact against the upwardly facing or directed underlying nailer plate 18, where it can be fastened by axially or longitudinally spaced driven nails, or equivalent fastening devices 28, extending into the underlying nailer plate 18.

The depending front leg 22 of the cant strip 20 is also secured by axially or longitudinally spaced fasteners, as by driven nails 30, extending into the underlying front edge surface of nailer plate 18, and the lower edge of front leg 22 is preferably configurated in the shape or form of an upwardly facing open entrance marginal lower edge channel 32.

In a roof installation one, or preferably several, strips or layers of weatherproof covering, such as flexible roofing felt 34 or its equivalent, is applied in adhesive attachment to the othenwise upwardly exposed or facing substantially flat surface of the deck structure The layer or layers 34 of covering material are also preferably contiguously extended in overlying adhesive attachment to the inclined surface of the cant strip 20, and a serving of gravel 36 intermixed with pitch or similar water-proofing adhesive, is normally applied on the otherwise upwardly exposed surface of the covering material 34. The outermost layer of weatherproof covering material 34 may be carried over the upper edges of its underlying layers and extend downwardly over the upright surface of the cant strip, where it can be adhesively or otherwise attached thereto and serve as added flashing protection against moisture penetration and leakage at the joints in gravel stop-fascia assemblies and installations according to the invention.

A fascia member 38 is illustrated in its simplest and most economical form as comprising a flat sheet metal strip, such as a corrosion resistant aluminum or aluminum alloy sheet, formed to provide an upper marginal edge configuration defined by rearwardly and downardly extending contiguous portions thereof, 40 and 42 respectively, terminating in contiguous outwardly and upwardly extending extensions 44 and 46 constituting an upwardly facing open entrance upwardly accessible channel formation 48 located at the rear of and remote to the outwardly facing surface 50 of the fascia member 38.

The lower marginal edge of the fascia member 38 is also preferably configurated to provide an angularly outwardly and downwardly extending drip flange 52, by reverse flat bending of the material of the same, and is further reversely bent to provide a depending free bottom marginal edge flange 54, preferably underlying disposed behind the drip flange 52, which is receivable within the upwardly open lower marginal edge channel groove 32 of the cant strip depending front leg 22. Fascia 38 and cant strip for a particular installation are selected of appropriate dimensions so that when the depending edge of fascia 38 is engaged with the lower edge of the cant strip 20, the upper marginal edge configuration of the fascia will be disposed above the upper apex of the cant strip 20 as shown in FIG. 1.

A flashing element 56 is also preferably formed from a sheet or strip of the same material as the cant strip 20 and fascia member 38. The flashing element 56 is preferably fabricated to provide a uniform transverse crosssection or profile having an upper marginal edge downwardly facing open entrance channel configuration 58, a substantially horizontal intermediate step surface 60 coextensive with an upwardly and outwardly inclined web section 62, and incorporates a second contiguous Web section 64, downwardly and rearwardly inclined from the step surface '60, terminating in a lower disposed prefer- 4 ably rearwardly and upwardly curled bead 66 remote to the opposite aforesaid upper marginal edge channel configuration 58.

In the installation illustrated in FIG. 1, the downwardly facing open entrance channel 58 of the flashing element 56 is readily introduced, as by angular or pivotal rotation thereof, into overlying superimposed interengaged relationship to the upwardly facing open entrance channel groove configuration 48 of the upper marginal edge of fascia member 38. Thus located, the flashing element 56 extends rearwardly and downwardly to present its step surface 60 overlyingly adjacent, but preferably slightly rearwardly, of the upper apex of the cant strip 20 in position to receive fastening elements 68, such as self tapping metal screws, extending through axially spaced apertures provided in the step surface 60 of flashing element 56, the underlying covering layer or layers 34, and underlying inclined leg 24 of the cant strip 20. Flashing element 56 is selected for a particular application so that, when thus installed, step 60 will be spaced above the downwardly inclined leg of cant strip 20. When the fastening elements 68 are driven into the underlying surface, step 60 will therefore be drawn downward against the resisting force supplied by the lower edge engagement of the depending flange 54 of the fascia member 38 within the upwardly facing open entrance channel 32 of the front leg 22 of the installed cant strip 20 to compressively restrain the fascia 3'8. Fastening elements 68 are driven into firm and positive threaded engagement with the underlying inclined surface of the rear leg 24 of the securely installed cant strip 20. The intersecting shoulder formed by the rearwardly inclined web section 62 and step surface 60 may or may not provide or make bearing contact and abutment against the outermost surface of the covering layer or layers 34, but in either event the rear lower beaded edge 66 of the flashing element 56 does contact and effect a weather seal against the outer surface of its immediately underlying covering material 34.

To insure proper installation of the construction as described, the fascia member 38 and flashing element 56 are dimensioned so that the marginal edge flange 54 and channel formation 48 of the fascia member are spaced approximately equal to the spacing between the marginal lower edge channel 32 of the cant strip 20 and the channel configuration 58 of the flashing element when it is resting on the upwardly facing surface of the cant strip near the apex of the cant strip. If the downwardly and rearwardly inclined web section 62 of the flashing element had a vertical height which did not correspond to the spacing of the marginal edge 48 of the fascia above the apex of the cant strip, the flashing element might not seat properly on the cant strip and might not provide the desired compressive restraint of the fascia member. The particularly dimensioning of the various elements is a simple matter and can vary as long as the elements are properly proportioned with respect to each other.

From stress analysis of the installation of FIG. 1, it will be seen that the installed flashing element 56 is under tension along its upper interengaged profiled edge and reacts to produce a generally downwardly directed tensile pulling force against the upper configurated or profiled marginal edge of the fascia member 38 to place the latter in a compressively stressed substantially tight and rattlefree condition against the resistance of the lower edge supporting groove 32 carried or supplied by the installed cant strip 20. The flashing strip 56, because of its angulated profile, exhibits suflicient resilience or flexibility to adjustably accommodate normally experienced relative movement of the fascia and flashing elements, in an installation thereof, due to thermal changes and the like, while at the same time insuring the aforesaid directionally prevailing tensile pulling force exerted by the flashing element 56. In practice, a natural or synthetic rubber or neoprene washer 70 is recommended under the head of each fastening device 68, as a precautionary measure against moisture leakage.

The fragmentary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 has been selected to show the use of extruded fascia and flashing elements in an overlying installation otherwise substantially similar to that of FIG. 1. Herein, the extruded fascia member 72 is fabricated to provide an upper inverted generally U-shaped marginal edge 74, and the extruded flashing element 76 is fabricated to provide an upper marginal edge configuration 78 overlyingly complementary to embracing contacting engagement against the outer surface of profile 74. Thus the upper marginally profiled interengagingly contacting portions or edges of the fascia member 72 and flashing element 76 respond, on installation of the flashing element under the action of fastening devices 80-, driven into positive engagement with the underlying cant strip 82, to exert and maintain a downwardly directed tensile pulling force along the upper profiled edge 74 of fascia member 72 to compressively stress the latter member against a support therefor, such as the lower edge mounting channel 32 in the installation of FIG. 1.

The underlying cant member 82 (FIG. 2) may be fabricated from sheet metal, as in FIG. 1, or may if desired be fabricated in the form of an extrusion. Corrosion resistant aluminum and alloys thereof may also be employed in the installation of FIG. .2.

FIG. 3 has also been selected to illustrate an extruded fascia member 84 in interengaging upper marginal edge connection with an extruded flashing element 86 in the same general configuration of these two members illustrated in FIG. 1. It will be observed, however, and this also applies to FIG. 2, that the flashing element 86 is confined in its bearing abutment against the exposed upwardly facing covering material 88 (FIG. 3) to the rear leg only of flashing element 86, which is the only structural difference from the installation of FIG. 1 where two bearing contacts between underlying covering material 34 and flashing element 56 were illustrated, one on either side of the fastening element 68 thereof.

FIG. 4 illustrates a further embodiment of the invention in which a conventional solid transverse cross-section cant strip 90 of wood, or other conventional building material, is employed and the lower marginal edge of an extruded fascia member 92 is supported within a separate bracket 94 secured to a mailer plate 96. It will be understood that the conventional solid cant strip in FIG. 4 could be substituted in any of the installations of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, without in any way detracting from the substantialy tight and rattle free structurally stressed installations produced in accordance with the invention.

It will be appreciated that the fascia-flashing elements described hereinabove lend themselves to facile and economical fabrication from strip and/or extruded mill products. Although corrosion resistant metals are herein indicated as preferred in the practice of the invention, commercially available substantially rigid plastics may be substituted therefor. Furthermore, the relatively flat sheetlike profiles of the illustrated fascia members of the installations of FIGS. 1 through 4 may be otherwise configurated in transverse cross-section between the upper and lower marginal edges thereof to impart esthetic sculptured decorative cornice and trim appearance, without in any way detracting from or effecting their installation, as hereinbefore described.

It will also be understood that conventionally fabricated mill lengths of fascia and flashing, meeting the requirements of the invention, are installable in accordance with conventional telescopic and/or spaced adjacent end and mitered or butting corner joint practices to provide for axial expansion and contraction of installations of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A fascia-flashing construction adapted for installation in overlying relationship to an outwardly facing terminal edge surface and adjacent coextensive inwardly extending upwardly facing surface of a deck structure, said construction comprising: a fascia member installable along and in overlying relationship to the outwardly facing terminal edge surface of the deck structure in supported relationship thereto at a location below an upper marginal edge thereof which extends upwardly above the upwardly facing adjacent coextensive surface of the deck structure, a flashing element having an upper marginal edge with a downwardly facing open channel configuration in overlying interengagement with an adjacent upper edge of the fascia member and having a rearward and downward extension for overlying securement relative to the upwardly facing surface of the deck structure below and remote to its upper marginal edge interengagement with the fascia member, said rearward and downward extension having a vertical height approximately equal to the spacing of the upper marginal edge of the fascia member above the upwardly facing surface of the deck structure, and said flashing element, on installation, being drawn toward the underlying surface of the deck and against the resistance of the fascia member overlyingly engaged by the flashing element to compressively restrain the fascia member in its supported relationship to the deck.

2. The fascia-flashing construction in accordance with claim 1 in which the rearward and downward extension of the flashing element is transversely profiled to provide a substantially horizontal step surface intermediate upper and lower marginal edges thereof for receiving installation fastening means extendable therethrough.

3. The fascia-flashing construction in accordance with claim 1 in which the fascia member is provided adjacent its upper marginal edge with an upwardly facing open channel configuration for interengagement by said downwardly facing open channel configuration on the upper marginal edge of the flashing element.

4. The fasciaflashing construction in accordance with claim 1 in which the flashing element includes a rearwardly and downwardly disposed lower marginal edge adapted for resisting support relative to an underlying upwardly facing surface of the deck structure.

5. The combination including a fascia-flashing construction secured to a deck, said combination comprising a deck having a marginal outwardly facing terminal edge surface and adjacent coextensive inwardly extending upwardly facing substantially flat surface, a fascia member having upper and lower marginal edges in generally upright, coplanar relationship in overlying relationship to the terminal edge surface of said desk structure, and having the upper marginal edge thereof disposed above the plane of the upwardly facing substantially flat surface of the deck structure, a support engaged with said fascia member below its upper marginal edge, a flashing element having an upper marginal edge with a downwardly facing open channel configuration in overlying engagement with an adjacent upper edge of said supported fascia member, a rearwardly and downwardly extending portion of said flashing element disposed in overlying relationship to the upwardly facing surface of the deck structure, a marginal lower edge of said flashing element remote to its upper marginal edge being supportingly resisted relative to the underlying upwardly facing surface of the deck structure, fastening means intermediate the opposite upper and lower marginal edges of the flashing element securing the same in relation to the upwardly facing surface of the deck structure, said fastening means drawing said flashing element toward the underlying upper surface of the deck and against said supported fascia member to compressively stress the same between the support and flashing element, and thereby effect a substantially rattle-free fascia-flashing construction.

6. The combination in accordance with claim 5 in which the inwardly extending upwardly facing substantially fiat surface of the deck structure supports an upstanding cant strip having an upright front surface substantially coplanar with the outwardly facing terminal edge surface of the deck structure and a rearwardly and downwardly inclined surface relative to the substantially fiat surface of the deck structure, the fascia member having its upper marginal edge located above the front surface of said cant strip, and said flashing element intermediately located fastening means securing the flashing element in overlying relationship to the rearwardly and downwardly inclined surface of the cant strip.

7. The combination in accordance with claim 6 in which the deck structure is a roof having a weatherproof covering overlying the upwardly facing substantially flat sur face thereof, as well as overlying the inclined surface of the cant strip, and wherein the lower rear marginal edge of the flashing element contactingly bears against an outermost surface of the weatherproof covering in overlying relationship to the inclined surface of the cant strip.

8 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Architectural Record, December 1957, pp. 70 71.

PRICE C. FAW, JR., Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

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